Cybersecurity expert and researcher Justin Drake warned Bitcoin owners about an impending disaster.
Drake called the current PoW consensus protocol in the BTC network a 'ticking time bomb.' In his opinion, it will soon explode due to the low level of blockchain security caused by a modest budget due to the decline in miners' revenues.
Recently, they earn less than 10 bitcoins worth $1 million at current rates per day in fees, which turned out to be the lowest figure in the last nine years. Moreover, due to the halving that occurred in April 2024, the reward for adding blocks has been halved to 6.25 BTC.
Changing the transaction processing fee in the Bitcoin network
Justin claims that today the security of cryptocurrency blockchain is ensured by equipment with a capacity of 20 gigawatts. The infrastructure, including the data centers and miners with a capacity of 1 gigawatt, costs $1 billion; accordingly, a 51% attack would require $10.2 billion. However, as Drake states, a permanent attack would require infrastructure with a capacity of 20 gigawatts, thus expenses would reach $20 billion.
Currently, Bitcoin's market capitalization stands at $2.11 trillion, meaning the security of the asset is provided by equipment worth only 0.95% of the value of coins in circulation. As the cryptocurrency's price rises, this figure will only decrease because miners have no opportunity to increase their coin production due to the lack of revenue growth. In this regard, Justin believes that executing a 51% attack on the BTC network is only a matter of time.
